Illustere School

Russian Literary Classics

06feb201823mrt2018

Evenement

‘What was happening in Pushkin’s Russia … is extraordinarily reminiscent of what is happening in Putin’s Russia.’ Post-Soviet writer Mikhail Shishkin comes to this conclusion in an essay that juxtaposes Alexander Pushkin – Russia’s bestknown poet – with its illustrious current leader Vladimir Putin. In the nineteenth century, so Shishkin argues, Pushkin blazed the trail for many Russian writers to come when, ‘in opposition to the pyramid of power, at the head of which the Czar administers the fates of individuals and nations, he created an alternative pyramid, at the head of which stood the poet.’

Ever since Pushkin’s age, literary writers have exerted considerable social influence in Russia. Even if we discard the myth of Russian writers as intrinsically politicized beings, it is clear that they have long pondered what Shishkin calls ‘the “cursed” Russian question that occurs to every Russian born in an empire that is constantly waging war against foreigners and against its own people: how should one view this government and these people who are constantly waging these wars?’

In this course, students explore the nineteenth-century Russian literary classics with this disproportionate social engagement in view. The course focuses on the principal authors of 19th-Century Russian literature. Writers such as Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Chekhov gave Russia its place in world literature. In this course we will read, analyze, and discuss some of their major works, such as Death Souls, Crime and Punishment, and War and Peace. We will read parts of these novels, some shorter texts (stories) entirely, and discuss their plots, characters, and topics against the background of the biography of the writers, Russian cultural history, and the broader context of European literature.

Date, time, location and price

Date: 6 February - 23 March 2018

Time: Tuesdays, 13:00 - 15:00 and Fridays, 11:00 - 13:00

Number of seminars: 14

Location: P.C. Hoofthuis, room 1.15

Price: 210 / 189 (discount price for AUV-members)

Disclaimer: For the current timetable, always consult the UvA timetable website. The Illustere School is not responsible for changes in the timetable.

Important information

Course type

Open UvA-Course

Education

Seminars

Semester/blok

Semester 2, block 1

Language

English

Other

You may only attend the seminars. It is not possible to partake in exams or obtain credits.

Deadline registration

29 January 2018 (subject to availability)

Registration

To register for this course you need to create an Illustere School account. If you already have an account, please use your existing account to register for the course. For both options, click the button below.

After registration

Directly after signing up for a course you receive confirmation of your registration by e-mail.

Payment

The tuition fee will be automatically deducted from your bank account. Registration for an Open UvA-Course for UvA employees is free. They follow a different procedure.

Blackboard

Blackboard is the digital learning environment of the University of Amsterdam and is used by all teachers and (regular) students of the UvA. Illustere School students may also use Blackboard. Your personal codes will be send to you by email.